Table arrangement for a directory service and for related method and facilitating queries for the directory

Abstract

A directory services system, such as one providing a X.500 or LDAP directory service, having a design and a method of operation which facilitates queries in and out of the directory, table organization / layout and clustering. In the arrangement of the directory service, tables are organized corresponding to their function, thereby permitting an arrangement based on service modeling and functional organization that permits clustering. A preferred layout design incorporates principal, conceptual, logical and / or physical designs.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09 / 427,263, filed Oct. 26, 1999, entitled “Directory Service System and Method with Tolerance for Data Entry Storage and Output,” which is a divisional of U.S. Ser. No. 08 / 793,575, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,052,681 and which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates to the field of directory services. In particular, the present invention is directed to application of X.500, LDAP and similar services to a relational database, a database design and use of the database to perform X.500 services. [0004] One aspect of the invention relates to the design of a directory service(s) system, including table organization and clustering, and method of operation which facilitates queries in and out of the directory. [0005] Other aspects of the present disclosure are directed to an implementation using a R...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

"The present invention provides a directory service arrangement that addresses problems associated with prior art designs. The invention uses a service modelling approach to organize tables based on their function and relationships between services, rather than their data type. This allows for optimal exploitation of RDBMS capabilities and reduces the number of disk pages accessed. The invention also includes a method for decomposing tables and designing a layout for optimal performance. The invention provides a directory service arrangement with a unique approach that alleviates problems associated with prior art designs. The invention allows for faster starting time, reduces memory requirements, and is relatively independent of the size and complexity of the data type."

Problems solved by technology

The problem, therefore, is to address the need of data managers and implement X.500 with all the flexibility of object-oriented systems but using an SQL product so that it can achieve the scalability and performance inherent in relational systems coupled with the stability, robustness, portability and cost-effectiveness of current SQL products.

None of these products use a SQL database as an underlying data store, and none of these products therefore address successfully the market need of implementing X.500 using an SQL RDBMS.

The Directory System disclosed, as with many prior art systems, is relatively slow in operation, particularly where the database is relatively extensive and is incomplete in its implementation of X.500, such as aliases, subsearch and entry information.

As noted above, there have been a number of attempts made to address prior art problems, but none of the attempts have resulted in a product which has proven to be commercially accepted by the market.

In particular, the prior art has been unable to address problems that are associated with queries in and out of the directory, table organization and layout, and clustering.

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